The concept of reality or rather the “ultimate reality” experienced by a Buddha – as opposed to the conventional reality commonly experienced by the world – looks back upon a long history in Buddhism. A little more than two and a half thousand years ago, Siddhārtha Gautama is said to have fully awakened to this true reality and spent the remainder of his life as a Buddha (lit. “awakened one”) pointing this reality out to others. According to tradition, the Buddha initially doubted whether the reality he realized was too subtle to be conveyed in words. Thus, in the “Detailed Account on the Natural Acts [of the Buddha]” (“Lalitavistarasūtra,” Vaidya 1958, 286), we are told that the Buddha said to himself (my own translation from the Sanskrit), “I found a Dharma, profound, peaceful, pure, luminous, nectar-like, and not conditioned. Even if I taught it, nobody would understand it. I better remain silent and go to the forest.” Tradition relates that it was only through the intervention of...
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Mathes, KD. (2013). Reality in Buddhism. In: Runehov, A.L.C., Oviedo, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_1596
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